Flock of ‘Birds’ to Protest CSU Bird Experiments at Presidential Address
PETA Members Will Demand End to School’s Cruel and Worthless Tests on Wild Crows, Robins, and Sparrows
For Immediate Release:
September 18, 2019
Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382
Wearing crow masks and dressed in black, a group of PETA supporters will gather outside Colorado State University’s (CSU) historic Oval on Thursday during CSU President Joyce McConnell’s first President’s Fall Address.
When: Thursday, September 19, 10:30 a.m.
Where: The Oval, Oval Drive, Fort Collins
The protesters will call on McConnell to stop CSU experimenter Gregory Ebel from using American crows, American robins, and house sparrows trapped from the wild in experiments in which they’re infected with West Nile virus and killed. Infected birds develop a fever and anorexia and have difficulty controlling their bodily movements. Some species—including crows—experience systemic infections followed by multiple organ failure and death. In response to a PETA complaint, Colorado Parks and Wildlife cited and fined Ebel and suspended his license after he trapped 37 American crows last year without the required state permit.
“For years, wild birds have experienced prolonged deaths at CSU in experiments that don’t even purport to seek a vaccine or cure for West Nile virus in birds or humans,” says PETA Vice President Dr. Alka Chandna. “As President McConnell takes the helm, PETA is asking her to bring CSU into a new, ethical era, free of these pointless and cruel experiments.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview.
